Category: Essie

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Remembrance Day Poppy Nails

It’s November 11th & here in Canada that is Remembrance Day. 

For those who might not know, Remembrance Day represents a day to reflect on all those who have fault & served in the military. At 11am, of the 11th day, of the 11th month we pause to remember. Growing up & coming from a military heavy family, this day has always held extra meaning to me—from a great grandfather who served as a sniper in the First World War, to cousins & family friends who served in Afghanistan, I always make sure no matter what I am doing to stop & take those moments to pause. 

In honour of today, & the poppy, I created a special design. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Icing Steel My Heart
  • ORLY Decades of Dysfunction 
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • L’Oréal Carmin Parisien
  • Xroma Polish & Vinyls Skinny Wave Vinyls
  • Small & large dotting tool 

I hope you too will also take a moment to Remember today.  ♥️

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My New Favourite Purple & Swirly Accent Nails 

Happy Friday everyone! Today I’ve got a quick mani I did recently when I was feeling some nail art, but didn’t want to do anything too complicated. This mani was actually inspired by a design I did back in September 2016 as part of my failed attempt at the 31 Day Challenge. I loved the look of the design over a super sheer polish, so I decided that it would make for the perfect accent nail. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • L’Oréal Elusive
  • Ardene Ice Mist
  • Essie Frock N’ Roll
  • Small detail brush from Bundle Monster 

Okay can we talk about L’Oréal Elusive for a second? I found this bottle at my local Lawtons in the clearance section (my favourite place for polish finds) & I had to buy it! It’s just such a good shade of purple, & I’ve been wearing it a lot lately. Also I totally apologize for the chipping at the tip of my nails—I took these shots after 2 full days of wear so they were looking tougher than they should. But this purple…. it’s just such a good purple! 💜 I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been on a huge purple kick lately. 

What do you think of this accent nail? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. & leave some suggestions for any nail art you’d love to see! 

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Holo Accent Nails using NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment! 

Happy Wednesday everyone! The week is already speeding by, which is crazy—halfway to the weekend. To get us over this mid week slump, today I’ve got another item I was so kindly sent to try out by NailStuff.ca: holo pigment flakies. 

This is my first time ever using any kind of pigment for the nails (I know, I’m so behind on the times) so I was super excited to give it a whirl & also totally unsure of how to go about it. I know these pigments work really well over gel nails, but I change my nails too often for that so I decided to create these holo nails using just nail polish! So after watch a bunch of YouTube & Instagram videos, I felt pretty confident I could do this! 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • L’Oréal Pino Purple
  • NailStuff.ca Holo Pigment Flakies
  • Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat
  • Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier  

To accomplish this look: 

  • I painted all my nails with L’Oréal Pino Purple (including my ring finger.) 
  • I applied top coat to all my fingers except my ring finger & on that nail I applied Fingerpaints Peel Off Base Coat. (I originally tried used just wet nail polish but found the flakies didn’t stick as well for me.)
  • Next I applied my Edge Perfection Cuticle Barrier around my ring finger & let it dry completely. 
  • I then took the small eyeshadow applicator that comes with the flakies, & patted them down onto the nail & tried to rub them in some. It took about 2 applications to completely cover my base. (You can see at the edge of my nails where I missed a few spots.)
  • Seal in flakies with top coat (I used Seche Vive for that shine.) 

Super simple & only slightly messy. I did end up getting holo flakies in my bed (where I do my nails pretty much always) which in turn ended up sticking to my son for a couple of days but nothing wrong with a little holo glitter! 

I will say, my second attempt using a sticky base coat over my polish worked much better (as opposed to using just my base of polish). The first time I tried half the flakies came off with my top coat, but it could be my polish had dried too much for the flakies to really stick. 

Have you used holo flakies before? Any tips  for application that you’ve discovered? Leave all your thoughts below! 

*PR SAMPLE* Some of these items were sent to me for review. However, all opinions are my own. 

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Cosy Sweater Nails

Temperatures have been feeling much more seasonal the last couple days here in Halifax, which means I’ve been living in my most cosy of sweaters. & it also means I’ve been seriously digging sweater nail art! 

There is just something unnatural about rocking knit nails when it’s 18 degrees celsius outside (that’s 64 degrees fahrenheit to my non-Canadian friends!) So as soon as temperatures started to dipped, I decided to pull out my knit nail vinyls for some perfectly November-worthy nails. 

For this manicure, the polishes I used were: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Grow Stronger
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Under the Twilight
  • Ardene Daydreamer
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hard To Get
  • URSugar Nail Vinyls item #AUB39877 — Click to buy
  • NailStuff.ca gold triangle studs — Gold Mixed Decoration Nail wheel 
  • Latex Free Make Up Sponge (for sponging over nail stencil) 
  • Edge Perfection Polish Barrier 

I’m really feeling this design using these heart/knit pattern vinyls from URSugar. They definitely remind me of a cosy sweater & just make me want to pull on my softest, most plush sweater & curl up on the couch with a peppermint mocha or gingerbread latte. This is my absolute favourite time of year & I just want to soak in every moment! Before we know it, snow will be falling & I’ll be complaining about being cold. 

What do you think of this design? Are you a fan of the sweater pattern nail? Share your thoughts with me down in the comments! 

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Kitty Cat Nails 🖤

Happy Halloween Eve everybody! 🎃

So confession time: I’m the queen of the last minute Halloween costume. Seriously I was the girl always looking for something to wear the day before Halloween (or worse, the day of Halloween). This year I’ve got our Halloween all ready, but if it wasn’t already prepared, then I would probably go with last minute Halloween costume go to: a kitty 🐱. & if I were going as a kitty for Halloween, these would be the perfect nails to go along with that costume!

Polishes used for this design:

  • Base Coat: OPI Natural Nail Base Coat
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Essie Wrap Me Up
  • Essie Merino Cool
  • Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Black Heart
  • Sally Hansen I ♥️ Nail Art Pen in Red
  • Small detail brush & dotting tool from Bundle Monster

These nails were surprisingly easy to achieve. The leopard print is just blobs of colour outlines with black using your small detail brush. The cat is a bit harder to do, but not by too much—just takes a little bit patience to get it done. & if you feel like you can’t freehand a kitty, you can just as easy wear leopard print on all your fingers instead or use a sticker or decal. 

Yep, that’s a onesie & what inspired my colour choices for this leopard print. Who else has totally worn a onesie for a Halloween costume? I mean, they’re pretty perfect for Trick or Treating! Keep you warm & then you immediately can hop into bed (with a chocolate bar or two or fifteen!)

What is your favourite Halloween snack? I’m totally a gummy candy girl. The hubs & I are taking the little guy trick or treating a few places & we already have the candy situation figured out… he gets any chocolate as I’m lactose intolerant, I get the gummy candies & we’ll split the chips. & the little guy… well he gets to be adorable in his baby flash costume. 

♥️